Harvey and Jeannette Crewe

Harvey and Jeannette Crewe

David Harvey Crewe (born October 1941 - c.17 June 1970), known as Harvey, and Jeannette Lenore Crewe (born February 1940 - c. 17 June 1970) were a New Zealand farming couple who died in a double murder, or possibly a murder–suicide, around 17 June 1970. A local farmer Arthur Allan Thomas (born 1938) was twice convicted of their murders but later given a Royal Pardon.

Crime

Husband and wife Harvey and Jeannette Crewe were shot and killed around 17 June 1970 in their farmhouse at Pukekawa, Lower Waikato, and their bodies were dumped in the Waikato River. Jeannette's body was found in the river at a place known as "Devil's Elbow" on 16 August and her husband's body upriver on 16 September. An axle which had apparently been used to weigh down Harvey's body was also found.

Investigation and trials

The Crewes' disappearance was reported to the police by Jeannette's father, Lenard W. Demler (died November 1992), and his neighbour on 22 June. The Crewes' 18-month-old daughter Rochelle was alive in the house and it was suspected that an unknown woman had fed her between the 17th and 22nd. Len Demler became the leading suspect in the police inquiry.

The police collected and test-fired barely 3% of similar rifles belonging to residents in the Pukekawa district. Of those tested, all but two rifles were eliminated as possible murder weapons. One of these two rifles belonged to Arthur Thomas and he became a suspect. On 27 October, the garden at the Crewe house was searched for a third time and a cartridge case was found. The case carried marks which showed it had been fired from Thomas's rifle. In November, Thomas was arrested and was found guilty of their murder in a jury trial in 1971. On appeal, a new trial was ordered and a second jury found him guilty in 1973.

Campaigns

A campaign, led in part by Pat Booth of the Auckland Star, attempted to overturn his conviction. The campaign alleged that police evidence against Thomas was fabricated. Forensic work by Dr Jim Sprott showed that the cartridge case had been planted at the scene.^[1] A Royal Commission of Inquiry was formed to review the case and reported to the Governor-General in November 1980.^[2] The Commissioners found that the cartridge case relied on to convict Thomas, Exhibit 350, had been created by firing bullets taken from the Thomas farm using his seized gun and the cartridge planted by Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton and Detective Sergeant Lenrick Johnston outside the Crewe house. The Inquiry found there was misconduct by Hutton and Johnston in the prosecution of Thomas and that the arrest and prosecution of Thomas was unjustified. Thomas was pardoned in 1979 by Robert Muldoon after serving nine years in prison and was paid NZ$950,000 compensation for his time in jail and loss of the use of the farm.^[3] Hutton has never been prosecuted for his conduct. (Johnston died in 1978.)

David Yallop wrote the book Beyond Reasonable Doubt about the case. The case was made into the docu-drama feature film Beyond Reasonable Doubt in 1980.

Status of case and alternate theories

No one else has been arrested for killing the Crewes and the case remains unsolved. A number of theories have been put forward. Pat Booth has speculated that Harvey Crewe assaulted his wife who then shot him, dumped his body with help from her father and several days later shot herself, with her father also disposing of her body. Another theory is that Demler killed both the victims. Chris Birt covered this extensively in his book, The Final Chapter, in 2001. Arthur Thomas's brother Des Thomas believes that yet another local man was the murderer.

In 2010 Ian Wishart published the book Arthur Allan Thomas, the first thorough reexamination of the case since Yallop in 1978. Wishart agrees with Birt in rejecting the murder-suicide theory. But contrary to Booth, Yallop and Birt he does not believe Jeannette’s father Len Demler had anything to do with the murders or removing the bodies after their deaths. Instead Wishart proposes two new suspects: the son of a prominent New Zealand family who worked in the area (Wishart does not directly name him); or one of the policemen who planted evidence to convict Thomas.

See also

• Crime in New Zealand

References

1. ^ "Expert Witness". Gunworks Canterbury. http://www.gunworks.co.nz/expertwitness.php. Retrieved 2007-03-31. 
2. ^ "Report of the Royal Commission to Inquire into the Circumstances of the Convictions of Arthur Allan Thomas for the Murders of David Harvey Crewe and Jeanette Lenore Crewe, 1980". http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/thomas_royal_commission_1980.pdf. Retrieved 2009-06-27. 
3. ^ Report of the Royal Commission to Inquire into the Circumstances of the Convictions of Arthur Allan Thomas for the Murders of David Harvey Crewe and Jeanette Lenore Crewe, 1980, p. 120, http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/thomas_royal_commission_1980.pdf, retrieved 2010-10-15 

Further reading

• Swain, Evan (1971). The Crewe Murders. Auckland. 
• Bell, Terry (1972). Bitter Hill: Arthur Thomas—the case for a retrial. Auckland: Avante-Garde Publishing. 
• Booth, Pat (1975). Trial by Ambush: the fate of Arthur Thomas. Wellington: South Pacific Press. 
• Bailey, Earl (1976). Quash the Verdicts—The Thomas Affair. Auckland. 
• Sprott, Jim; Pat Booth (1976). A.B.C. of Injustice. Wellington. 
• Yallop, David A. (1978). Beyond Reasonable Doubt. Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0340236671. 
• Birt, Chris (2001). The Final Chapter. Penguin. 
• Wishart, Ian; Arthur Thomas (September 2010). Arthur Allan Thomas: The Inside Story. Auckland: Howling At The Moon Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9582401-7-8. 

External links

• Article by Pat Booth in the New Zealand Listener
• Report urging Police to reopen the case in 2006 Based on Chris Birt's investigation into the identity of the unknown woman.
• Interview with Investigative journalist Pat Booth - 40 years since the Crewe Murders

Persondata
Name	Crewe, Harvey
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1940
Place of birth
Date of death	1970
Place of death